Car trouble in cold and wet weather is common. The Auto Club helps an average of 15,400 drivers on roadsides during the holidays, she said. During the recent cold snap, 25 percent of assistance calls were for dead batteries.

Flat tires, lockouts and broken car keys are among other common requests for help.

Drivers should carry a winter driving kit that includes blankets and warm clothing, jumper cables, abrasive material such as sand or cat litter (or traction mats and a small shovel), ice/snow scraper and tire chains, Cook said.

State Trooper Inci Yarkut advises drivers to stay home in bad weather if they don’t need to go out.

“We always say ‘slow down, take your time,’” she said.

She cautioned holiday revelers who have been drinking to take a cab home or sleep over.

Police patrols are out in force looking to get intoxicated drivers off the road.

“You can definitely expect to see the police everywhere,” on city roads as well as freeways, Yarkut said.

“There are places I would rather spend my holiday season than jail,” she said. “It is not a place you want to go back.”